With Microsoft to promote a secure and aware use of new technology.
Today, Microsoft Italia and the Fondazione Mondo Digitale have announced a new free cybersecurity training course to promote a greater understanding of informatic security.
The announcement is part of the broader Ambizione Italia for Cybersecurity multi-level training programme which aims, on the one hand, to train experts in cybersecurity, professional figures increasingly on demand by the job market, and on the other to also increase awareness of privacy and security issues in schools and citizens so that everyone can grasp the opportunities provided by digital tools in a responsible manner.
Launched in June 2022, Ambizione Italia for Cybersecurity has reached 9000 individuals, including professionals, students, and citizens, in less than two years.
From the use of effective passwords, to an overview of the main on-line risks to notions and precautions necessary for carrying out secure online transactions, the course is composed short videos available on the Fondazione Mondo Digitale platform to help citizens master the daily on-line operations.
According to the latest Digital Defense Report, Microsoft collects over 65 trillion signals every day. Over the last year, there has been a net increase in the global scale of attacks, affecting as many as 120 countries, fuelled by government espionage. While in the recent past the most common attacks focused on the destruction of data and resources, or financial gain through ransomware, current data reveals that the predominant motivation is to steal information, secretly monitor communications, or manipulate what people read, showing an ever-increasing convergence between cyberattacks and influence operations. Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a key role. If, on the one hand, it creates new increasingly sophisticated threats, on the other it provides new defence opportunities. In fact, AI is used more and more frequently by cybercriminals to perfect attacks but, at the same time, its is fundamental for an increasingly effective defence, thanks to its ability to automate and speed up cybersecurity aspects such as the detection of threats, response, analysis, and prediction.
DECLARATIONS
“Risks and threats are constantly increasing. Lack of adequate cybersecurity skills – both advanced and basic – cause significant harm not only to companies but to all of us. It is no longer a matter reserved for professionals, everyone must pay attention to the security of their data, for themselves and for others. The risk does not only concern large companies, but also SMEs and individual citizens. With “Ambizione Italia for Cybersecurity” we want to provide a contribution. Together with Fondazione Mondo Digitale and is ecosystem of partners, we can accelerate training on the tools and skills necessary to face the challenges of the present and future."
Tamara Zancan, Director, Cybersecurity, Compliance and Identity, Microsoft
"Thanks to our consolidated alliance with Microsoft, we are promoting an intense training programme on cybersecurity that engages us at various levels. In February, we involved 80 young men and women in high school in the final hackathon of the Hacker vs Hacker Course, organised as part of “Ambizione Italia for Cybersecurity” at the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome. The objective was to learn how to defend oneself from cyberattacks. Moreover, just a few days ago, at the Microsoft House in Milan, 15 young women met with Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Security, Compliance, Identity & Privacy to talk about gender equality in the technology sector. Ours is an all-round commitment because cybersecurity closely affects the lives of all of us."
Mirta Michilli, Director General, Fondazione Mondo Digitale
